The Dry Season

Our crops are in store awaiting the processing factory to start up.

The bush is at its highest before it desiccates and thins.   Local vegetation makes ideal thatching material and is very saleable.

Early morning on the way to market with dried thatching grass.

Malawi International Trade Fair is an annual event in Blantyre with a bias on agriculture akin to UK county shows.  Funwe Farm  took a stand and we spent a morning at the Fair which showcased a number of enterprising Malawian cottage industries including those marketing baobab not only as a superfood but also as a  skin product, compost and fabric, also a charity selling donated ex Royal Mail bikes ideal for use on dirt roads.

Ian at the Trade Fair

Trade Fair, entrance fee 85p

  







School
Terri's Standard 8 Class have taken their Junior Certificate Examination, the entrance qualification for secondary school, the pass rate is low and many will finish their education and seek work aged 14+.

Inventive counting aid, bamboo sticks.

Attendance figures for ONE class

 
Southern Region
We took a brief trip to the higher and wetter area south of the lakeshore where hectares of tea have been grown for the last 130 years; the original seeds came from the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.  Malawi is the second highest tea producer in Africa after Kenya. The landscape is mountainous with rolling foothills planted with tea and coffee.

Mount Mulanje, foreground tea plantations.

 

 

We visited the Satemwa Tea Estate in Thyolo and washed down some carrot cake with local brew, a piece of England in the heart of Africa.

Huntingdon House, Satemwa a beautifully furnished guest house.

Two leaves and a bud, tea harvest.

Tea on the verandah.

More visitors are due this month, Roger and Hannah, Terri's brother and wife then Michael, Ian's brother; both brothers and Hannah have useful experience and expertise relevant to our project here in Malawi and we anticipate their arrival.

T and I

May in Malawi

Our crops are now drying in preparation for treating and packaging for next year's planting which will take place hopefully in December with the rains.  The maize cobs are moved from the field by ox cart and stored in a well ventilated area free from rodents
 

Storing cobs

Carting maize stalks

The harvest

The maize and legume stalks are stored, they provide  additional cattle fodder until the rains come.
Some farmers burn the stalks on the field; as they burn, small rodents escape, these are trapped providing sport and a high protein dinner.

Cotton
Semi drought resistant, native cotton  grows well in Malawi and is a popular cash crop.  The cotton industry has declined due to imported cloth from Asia, lack of maintenance at the ginneries and the arrival of second hand clothing bales from European, American and Asian charities.

 

This year's crop is poor due to the short rains

Cotton boll after 160 days

 Farmers will store their bolls until the price rises.  Price starts at 30p per kilo rising to 40p.









Harvest in the Garden

Ripe lemons

The citrus trees in our garden  are bearing and we race the monkeys for the ripe fruit.  Thus far we have managed lemonade and lemon curd.

Lemonade and lemon curd

Terri spent 2 happy weeks in UK catching up with family and friends, she is now back in the tropics. We are both enjoying the 'Winter' with temperatures sometimes below 30 degrees.

T and I

Harvest Continues

Groundnuts (peanuts) are now being harvested. They have a strange growth pattern, nodules appear from the flowers, above ground, and grow downwards into the soil where the nuts form.


The mechanical lifter loosens the soil and plants; these are pulled from the ground by hand, stooked to dry then the nuts are plucked from the plant.
A sheller is used to remove the nuts from the shells which are then hand graded prior to being packed for sale as seed.

The Baobab is a strange tree, Rudyard Kipling described  it as having been pulled from the ground and pushed back in again the wrong way up with the roots in the air.

Autumn colours are now appearing

Children risk life and limb to pick the fruits.

Baobab fruits are now recognised as a Super Food. They seem to contain one of everything we need and six times more than anything else!
The white pith contains a large number of seeds which taste very bitter. Does you good though.







Jonny and Jody visited for 10 days and we were able to show them what we have been doing on the Farms as well as a taste of what Malawi has to offer, including two nights at the Mvuu camp in Liwonde Game Park where we saw a good selection of animals.

This elephant suddenly appeared and decided it wanted to swim across the Shire river.
Trunks can be useful at times when you sink to the bottom

Anyone know of a good dentist?

Terri went back to England with Jonny and Jody to catch up with the family and see Emily and Thomas, our grandchildren.
Normal service will be resumed for the next Blog.

Harvest has begun

The cow peas, a small ground cover legume, were the first to ripen.  The pods dry to a biscuit colour on the plants and are plucked by hand into a sack then weighed on a balance scale suspended from a tree.  The pods are spread on a tarpaulin, threshed with sticks, winnowed and graded by hand.
The seeds are stored for next year's season when they are tested for germination, moisture and purity.

Picking

Weighing

Threshing

Storage

 Funwe Seed crops are now mature and we run  open field days showing off trial plots, these are opportunities for learning, networking and socialising.

Maize trial

Sales patter!

2015 Malawians

 

Hair extensions in  all colours are fashionable at present, this is Masozi, her name translated means tears, some other meaningful names are Njala (hunger) Maliro (funeral),  these were given in times of stress.  Some  joyful names include Hallelujah, the verger, Kupatsa (the giver) our banker, Precious Innocent and Gift.

Jonny and Jody will be here next week, they will enjoy the warmth of the weather and the Malawi people.  Terri will travel back to UK with them for a couple of weeks.

We understand that UK weather is improving and  this time next month the General Election will be over. 

T&I

The seeds are swelling

The rain was late arriving and seems to have finished early, there is great concern for the subsistence maize farmers.

Despite the difficulties of the climate, our seed crops have matured well. The maize foliage is showing signs of stress but the cobs have swollen.  Harvesting the cow peas, has started and the pigeon peas, the last crop to be planted, are in flower

Maize crop drying out

Good full cobs for seed

A proud farmer

These racks are used to dry fish or maize cobs

Creative and inventive neighbours

The lake sand is used as a medium for writing and drawing lessons, the children create gardens using wild flowers which are many and various.

                                                                              

School children learning in the sand

Children making a 'garden'

Music is an important part of life.

        

Bottle tops on wire, a percussion instrument

Some fishing boats travel into deeper water with the help of sails.

Sail made from old sacks

Likoma Island

An early birthday treat for Ian was a trip to Likoma Island, situated in the  Mozambican waters of Lake Malawi.  The Island is the site of an Anglican mission dating from 1886, the legacy of which is St Peters's Cathedral built of local granite in 1903.  We visited on Palm Sunday enjoyed part of the service and checked the bells which resembled upturned saucepans.

Transport to Likoma

Airport transfer, Ian in the back

Children at Likoma Mission,  St Peter's Cathedral, waving palms

There were only 2 other tourists on the island.

Easter is fast approaching, Easter eggs are not an option here but we will celebrate with boiled eggs for breakfast.

Happy Easter
T and I

Picking the first green maize

Our neighbours grow tobacco and cotton as cash crops. The tobacco leaves are picked and dried under thatched shelters and sold from April onward; the cotton is beginning to flower.

Brown tobacco leaves drying with cotton in the foreground

Moisture is necessary to ensure pollen grains stick to the silks of the maize cobs, if the weather is dry, the silk is hand sprayed with water.

In addition to maize Funwe produces a variety of legume seeds including cow peas and pigeon peas; both fix nitrogen and provide a source of protein which is eaten fresh, dried and sprouted.  These varieties are drought resistant and grow on marginal soils

We enjoyed this cob for dinner

Cow peas ripening fast

Village walk

Our cottage is in Mwanyama Village situated on the lake shore at Nkhudzi Bay.  It is a busy fishing village with a selection of community buildings, bars and several churches.  There is always great activity, mending nets, weaving mats and new builds.

The floats on this fishing net are discarded flip flops

There is little regard for health and safety

Christina taught Terri to weave grass into a very serviceable mat

Sunday morning

There are few tourists in Malawi as there are no direct flights from Europe, however there are a number of resorts along the lake shore which boast quality facilities including pools, tennis courts and golf courses.

Ian and Jon at Club Makokola Resort

We look forward to visitors over the next few weeks, Richard from Edinburgh followed by Jonny and Jody in mid April, we will enjoy their company.

T and I